Thank you. Freakin thank you. You've articulated my exact feelings about this trash book. Reflects the abysmal intellect of the general populace- to exalt this shallow poorly executed novel. And yes about the Humans. So bewildering how same author
I've just read Ariadne and watched a bunch of gushing review videos since, and I'm so glad I found your review, because you put into words exactly how I felt about the book. Despite not having read any of Jennifer Saint's books (though I plan to), I could tell also tell while reading Ariadne that she as an author is very, very capable of writing Ariadne as a more emotionally complex character, because she did that so well with Phaedra, but I found her Ariadne's personality to be flat. At times, she seemed to me to be the personification of a feminist viewpoint of the myth, rather than a real person to whom these things happened. You express your criticisms in a very valuable way, correctly (in my opinion) diagnosing the book's flaws, while also acknowledging that Jennifer Saint is a talented writer who is capable of getting better. A+ review!
I am halfway through this book and oh, boy, it has been nothing but silly so far. Nora is a 35 year old woman with a degree in philosophy, except she's a really a 19 year old boy who took a first year elective course in philosophy. Every time the book mentions Thoreau in the exact same way those boys usually do, I feel the urge to punch someone. And to be fair to Nora, so far, every single person in her life is even more annoying than her. WTF happened? Matt Haig wrote better books, right? I remember really liking The Humans.
I just finished it and came to YT. 100% agree. MC was the biggest loser. He was incredibly boring and bland. I didn’t hate the war bits because something actually happened during those and the characters were less dull, but the way he described Mongolian and Chinese people as subhuman???? The only likable characters were Lt. Mamiya, Cinnamon, and the cat. I liked Kumiko’s actions (especially at the end) but unfortunately she wasn’t given a personality 🙃 It honestly felt like reading a harem anime.
Only just come across this today so I guess there won't be any reaction to my comments as it's 2 years old. I've been involved in a Twitter discourse with someone who feels that 1984 is about socialism, and no matter what I say he won't have it when I tell him it's about totalitarianism. I literally jumped for joy when you described the novel's message as a warning against it, thank you. Also your comments on that prick Dave Rubin's take on it were great too. Handmaid's Tale would be my recommendation for another dystopian novel to read; Orwell's Burmese (guess it's Myanmar now) Days is, in my opinion, his best novel. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this book, especially the ending. Finally, watch the movie Equilibrium, if you haven't already, as it's 1984 with a happy ending, and lots of violence along the way.
OMG YESSSF FELT THE SAME WAY!!!!!! I was so disappointed . Thought it’d be a life changing amazing book but I thought it made me so much more sad to see all her dreams weren’t even good outcomes after all? How’s that even good? It’s basic message is don’t be sad be grateful cause it could always be worse
His funny this woman giving the presentation thanks said it was ridiculous as silly and stupid she does realize she lives in that world right now she's totally programmed probably does whatever the Democratic party tells her she's the fascist Pig😊 not the Republicans
Tell me this movie doesn't seem like a modern version of the democratic party they want to control everything we see everything we do and everything we hear
His writing style sometimes takes more concentration to really understand his words, but I definitely don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just that his writing style is specific, but nonetheless, I like it a lot and his books are really engaging and more often than not, interesting that you are somehow always drawn to read more and not stop.
Okay firstly when you said that nora is just ranting about someone or delivering a monologue that's what depressed people do who are overthinkers and are completely alone. Especially when they don't have anyone to talk to and when u said that a lot of characters are underdeveloped just tell me how many people's backstory do u know completely. Do you know everything about everyone from ur school? Some people just enter ur life and contribute in small ways sometimes it plays a vital and sometimes not but it helps in shaping ur life in the way in which it's turned out to be. When his brother disowns her because she js having panic attacks and doesn't wanna sign the contract. Its because when u have a goal in ur mind and u have worked very hard to achieve it and ur so close but the final step depends on ur sister and she says no. Ur heart just implodes. Any person would have done the same. What hideous and sinister crimes people are committing for fame and money. But noras brother was able to finally get what he wanted doing what he likes so that's something rare and precious for him. U gotta understand his sentiment here. coming to the part where ur talking about his writing style I think the story is very painful and to not to complicate things Matt might have made sure to make the readers focus more on the story and not the literary aspects. Also comparing the book with some of his other works is not at all appreciated. Each book has its own character and authenticity. Just bcoz your standards have been set after reading humans doesn't mean that they need to be fulfilled in the same way or atleast come close to it . Every book is different. Imperfection is what makes something unique and u need to embrace it. Some trait that may seem imperfect to you may seem perfect for someone else. U cannot compare earth with Jupiter and say earth is so small but what makes it unique is its capacity to help life sustain with its abundant resources. Comparing two things which are not measured using the same metrics might make u seem like there are flaws in something. Infact comparison destroys uniqueness. Coming to moral of the story well u said u couldn't understand lemme help you with that nora thinks she is good for nothing and has no one to live for. After living so many lives she has come to the conclusion that ni matter how many people u love or date irrespective of their social, financial or educational status its going to be almost the same experience with that person. Making subtle changes in the current life if best to bring the best version out if ur own self. Every life that she got a chance to experience taught her one thing that she was actually living the best life she could and doing anything differently did not make any sense bcoz she was able to experience everything whether poor or rich, popular or not, healthy or not. And by making very trivial changes she gets the confidence she needs to make certain changes and live a happy life.
You are making the mistake of applying your own logic and also relying on Orwell’s past and experiences to prove people have the wrong take of 1984, Orwell himself stated he changed his mind on certain aspects of the ideology of the book. People see it differently depending on the life you have lived, The book and Communism are closer linked then you would ever know. I can bet my right nut in 30 years time your opinion of 1984 will drastically change.
Julia’s attraction to Winston has a pretty concrete answer in my mind. I see it as her knowing she’s out of his league but still going for him anyway to go against the societal expectations. We’ve seen with her character that she enjoys rebelling against the Party. She sleeps around and embraces her femininity with makeup to betray the Party, so it makes sense to me that she would have a relationship with Winston, someone who isn’t super conventionally attractive, for the same purpose.
I feel like your points about the characters in the book were all explained in the ending. At the beginning of the book I thought Matt haig did an exceptional job at portraying the despair Nora seed was feeling in the events that led up to her trying to end her life. And by the end of the book, it shows that the way she was perceiving her life and relationships wasn’t how she thought it was. Izzy texted her back, her brother showed up and apologized as well as confessed that he was going through some things as well. When she was in other universes, the characters weren’t explained because Nora didn’t know anything about the universe she was in, we had to figure it out with her. I personally loved this book so much.
2+2=5 my favorite quote from the book. Teaching each generation the new ways of thinking and believing is an art form in 2023. Punishment has changed thankfully. Today your punished mostly by stripping you of your humanity without rat cages and whips and such. The writer of Harry Potter show's the new way. Salman Rushdie got his throat slashed on stage on live television in 2022. We still have a way to go yet. Left or Right you must watch there results not speeches.
Thank you for this review - I finished the book today and I didn't quite know what was bugging me about it ... And found all of my points in your video. Thank you!!! :)
“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.” -George Orwell from the essay, “Why I Write” made in 1946. Also The criticism of the romance not making sense, being creepy, starting in a way that seems unorthodox all fails to take into account that when people are actively told not to love and to only have sex for the sake of procreation with a married partner whom you do not love and nothing else, when people are raised with things like the anti-sex league, and genuine intimacy is discouraged people become desperate for intimacy and would do anything to get it. I went to a Catholic school at one point and it’s view on sex and intimacy as sex being just something you do for the propagation of an authority figures ideology is quite similar. People also were a lot more awkward when it came to dating and crushes and did immature things like passing notes in that regard because they weren’t allowed to be open about it. It’s because of all this that I think they’re romance is realistic within the world they live in.
War is peace. Bringing the Serbs to heel. A massive bombing attack opens the door to peace. Time 1995 Weapons are - in fact - the way to peace. Stoltenberg 2023
Achilles is completely justified in his actions until he desecrates Hector's body. He says himself, he has nothing against the Trojans. He's been doing the majority of the work for nine years. The closest we can get in a modern context is say, your commanding officer takes your presidential medal of honour because he doesn't have one. Not to mention, its not just honour by our modern sensibilities, it was a HUGE DEAL back then. They had no afterlife (that wasn't just horrible nothingness of being a mindless shade) and no writing. Honour is essentially the only way you have to establish legacy, your name couldn't be written on a tombstone. Achilles is pushed over the edge, withdraws from his comrades and eventually goes berserk which is common among soldiers in similar positions. I highly recommend Achilles in Vietnam and Elizabeth Vandiver's lectures on the Iliad which really break it down, the former being a fascinating look at how the soldiers of Homer especially Achilles go through the exact same motions as soldiers in vietnam suffering combat trauma. On another token, a point where I do quite admire him is when he just rejects the entire culture of the time, a culture of war, and just longs to go back home and look after his father. This was considered alien and weird by the Greeks at the time but now I find it courageous, I honestly much prefer him to the other heroes. Achilles and Sarpedon are my favourites for similar reasons. They both strike me at being aware of the nature of life (the jars of sadness and happiness speech, Sarpedon's speech on why they have to fight this war). I much prefer them to the thoughtless ruthless savagery of the other heroes like Odysseus and Diomedes.
I got through 60 pgs and am already so bored. The review on the cover says the book is filled with warmth and humor but I couldn't help myself thinking "Really? Where?" This book sucks!
i’m quite picky with the covers of my book, and as Ariadne has an American and a UK cover, i was wondering if the one you have, in paperback, has this kind of waxy texture or is glossy/grainy? thank you so much for this review, you give so much in such a short time, it’s a delight to watch!
the best Slave is the one that thinks he conviced that he is free. ... re- read the book. . hopefully after 1 yr you will understand better your life and your so called "freedom". in China there is for sure a girl like you saying the same thing about the west. Orwell in 1984 was saying that Oceania, Eastasia & Euroasia are all the same. As well as Goldstein . the war is not meant to be won. is meant to last forever. like Giula said : Nothing is real. not even the war.
So people who disagree with you can't quote Orwell the man to explain what he meant in 1984, but you can quote Animal Farm to do so? Argh,...I don't have the energy to argue this nonsense online, but you misunderstand the novel. Orwell is fighting against totalitarianism. There is left-wing and right-wring. Orwell hated Communism because he's wasn't a modern-day dumbfuck Liberal who idealizes something that should never be idealized but, rather, only studied historically, and communism has the worst record in human history compared to any other political ideology. The Nazis killed fewer people than the Communists. You need to analyze Green Eggs and Ham before you start calling people stupid for their takes on 1984, because your take is preposterously stupid.
Winston and Julia’s romance is still romance, but it’s there for a purpose. After the torturous experiences they go through at the Ministry of Love, their encounter at the end was used to show the effects of the Party on not only an individual, but on their ability to love. It was a short-lived love story but it was one nonetheless. Also, I will absolutely stand on Winston’s side. His character isn’t supposed to be likable or agreeable; Orwell’s intent was clearly to make him into a realistic character with unreasonable thoughts, impulsive imaginings and unorthodox beliefs. The things that make people hate him are what makes him into such a 3 dimensional person.
Also the criticism of the romance not making sense, being creepy, starting in a way that seems unorthodox all fails to take into account that when people are actively told not to love and to only have sex for the sake of procreation with a married partner whom you do not love and nothing else, when people are raised with things like the anti-sex league, and genuine intimacy is discouraged people become desperate for intimacy and would do anything to get it. I went to a Catholic school at one point and it’s view on sex and intimacy as sex being just something you do for the propagation of an authority figures ideology is quite similar. People also were a lot more awkward when it came to dating and crushes and did immature things like passing notes in that regard because they weren’t allowed to be open about it. It’s because of all this that I think they’re romance is realistic within the world they live in.
